THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


THE   COLLECTION  OF 
NORTH   CAROLINIANA 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


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K   ADDRESS 


BtLivsssE  s:;rcK2  t;: 


COLLEGE  TEPdFERANCE  SOCIETY? 


MS  (mmMPm^^^^miniSi^ 


May  ?Ut  1S3S, 


mY  TV,  J.  BIMCl HAITI, 


RALEIGH : 

FaiXTEC  BY  J.   GALES  &  80». 

1836. 


Uhitibsitt  05  North-Caholina,' 
May  25th,  1836, 
7%  Mr.  W.  /.  Bingham, 

Sir: 

Wc  are  instructed  by  the  College  Temperance  Society, 
to  present  to  you  their  thanks,  for  the  very  appropriate  and  impressive  AddreHS  deli- 
vered before  them,  and  to  request  of  you  a  copy  for  publication. 

We  indulge  the  hope,  that  you  will  add  to  their  other  obligations,  by  complying 

with  their  request, 

CHARLES  L.  PETTIGREW, 

JOHN  T.  JONES, 

B.  M.  HOBSON, 

Committee, 


HitiSBOBOtroH,  May  28th,  1836. 
Young  Gentlemen-. 

The  Address,  a  copy  of  which  you  request  for  publication, 

Was  prepared,  as  you  are  aware,  on  very  short  notice,  in  a  few  broken  intervals,  not  of 
leisure,  but  of  exhaustion  from  official  duties.  It  was  written  to  be  heard  only,  not  to 
be  read.  Some  of  the  arguments  have  no  claim  to  originality  ;  nor  even  all  the  lan- 
guage. But,  as  you  do  me  the  honor  to  think  '  it  will  do  good,'  and  have  taken  the 
trouble  to  raise  funds,  by  subscription,  to  meet  the  expense  of  printing,  I  feel  obliged 
to  submit  it,  with  all  its  imperfections,  to  your  disposal. 

Your  obeJient  servant, 

W.  J.  BINGHA.M. 
To  Meisrsi.  C.  L.  Pettigrew, 
J.  T.  Jones,  and 
B.  M.  Hobflon. 


£^^  ^mrn'm^mm^^ 


My  young  filcndH  can  scarcely  have  been  so  unr<^asonabIo 
as  to  cxjiect  any  thing  new,  on  a  subject  so  hackneyed,  as  that, 
on  wliicli  their  kind  partiality  has  invited  me  to  address  them; 
an  honor,  which  I  felt  the  less  at  liberty  to  decline,  in  consequence 
of  having  once  before  declined  it;  thougli  the  utmost  that  I  could 
hope  to  achieve,  was  "  to  stir  up  their  pure  minds  by  way  of  re- 
membrance." 

The  art  of  distillation  was  first  discovered  by  a  Mahometan 
Alchymist,  while  torturing  the  good  creatures  of  God,  in  search 
of  a  universal  solvent:  and  the  alcoholic  liquid  was  for  centu- 
ries employed  only  in  such  mysterious  arts.  It  was  not  until 
more  than  five  thousand  years  of  the  w^orld's  history  had  passed 
away,  that  the  luckless  ingenuity  of  a  Spanish  physician  first  sug- 
gested its  use  as  a  medicine ;  nor  till  centuries  afterwards,  that 
])opu]ar  taste  established  it  as  a  wholesome  beverage  in  health. 
In  this  latter  character,  how  often  and  how  literally  has  it  realized 
the  Italian  epitaph,  "I  was  well;  I  wanted  to  be  better;  took  physic, 
and  here  I  am."  Down  to  the  16th  century,  it  was  kept  exclu- 
sively on  the  Apothecary's  shelf,  and  sold  as  a  medicine.  Ac- 
cording to  Cambden,  the  English  soldiers  first  adopted  it  as  a 
cordial,  while  assisting  the  Dutch  in  the  Netherlands,  in  1581. 
Tliis,  you  will  observe,  was  towards  the  close  of  the  16th  cen- 
tury;  and,  yet,  before  the  middle  of  the  18th,  did  so  shameful  a 
degree  of  profligacy  prevail  in  England,  that  Smolletsays,  *'Th6 
rctailei's  of  the  poisonous  compound,  gin,  set  up  painted  boards  in 
public,  inviting  the  people  to  be  drunk  for  the  small  expense  of 
a  penny,  assuring  them  that  they  might  be  dead-drunk  for  two 
pence,  and  have  straw  to  lie  on  'till  tliey  recovered,  for  nothing." 
It  would  seem  almost  unaccountable  tliattiie  public  morals  should, 
in  so  short  a  time,  have  become  so  debased  :  and,  indeed,  the  cause 
can  be  found,  only  in  the  essential  tendency  of  the  liquid  itself,  to 
give  ascendancy  to  the  animal  over  the  moral  and  intellectual 
powers,  the  pleasurable  feeling  it  excites,  and  the  insatiable  appe- 
tite it  induces.     Dulce  periculum  est,  0  Lenaee! 

When  the  novice  takes  his  first  glass  of  spirits,  he  feels  an 
instantaneous  excitement ;  his  pulse  quickens  ;  his  eye  sparkles; 
his  tongue  is  loosed;  his  imagination  is  awakened;  every  thing 
assumes  the  appearance  of  vivacity  and  glee.  And  what  if  it  is 
the  excitement  of  momentary  delirium,  instead  of  the  exhiliratiou 


afyouti) — the  hilarity  of  the  incipient  maniac,  instead  of  the  buoy- 
ant checi'fulncss  of  innocen.cc;  why  then,  it  makes  one  feel  *so 
royal;'  it  payfii  tlie  pour  man's  debts,  and  makes  him  ricli ;  it 
expands  the  dwarf  into  a  giant;  it  turns  tiie  beggar  into  a 
princei  it  eases  anxiety  of  its  load  of  cares;  it  makes  the  cow- 
ard brave  :  indeed,  I  have  known  it  make  a  little,  puny,  insig- 
iiificaiit  Freshman  '  tlie' best  man  upon  the  grit';  in  fact,  ho 
swore  he  was  <  half  horse,  half  alligator,  and  a  little  toucli  of  the 
snajiping  turkle'. 

But,  to  be  serious  ;  we  have  seen  that  it  cannot  be  moi-e  tiian 
two  centuries  and  a  iialf  since  ardent  spirit  came  into  general  use 
in  Great  Britain.  The  consequence  lias  been,  as  one  of  their  own 
writers  declares,  ''  that  intemperance  has  cost  that  country  more 
lives,  demoralized  more  persons,  broken  more  hearts,  beggared 
jnore  families,  and  sent  more  souls  to  perdition,  than  all  other 
vices  together".  In  our  own  country,  the  general  use  of  this 
liquor  is  of  much  more  recent  date.  Tlie  i)ilgrim  fath.crs  of  New- 
England  encountered  all  the  hardsliips  of  a  new  settlement  on  a 
bleak  ar.d  rugged  coast,  in  a  cold  climate,  without  the  ordinary 
accommodations  and  comfoi'ts  (jf  life,  without  ardent  spii-it  :  and 
yet  they  were  capable  of  performing  moi-e  labor;  they  were  more 
ItealtJiy  and  robust,  and  attained  to  a  greater  average  longevity, 
than  any  genei-ation  of  their  descendants.  It  v.as  not  until  that 
mighty  sti'uggle  which  gave  bii'tli  to  our  Republic  was  ended,  that 
the  error  began  generally  to  prevail  in  this  counti-y,  that  ardent 
spi)-it  is  a  wholesome  article  of  luxury  or  diet,  and  a  salutary  aid 
to  labor.  In  the  hardshijjs  which  (he  soldiei's  of  the  Revoluti(jii 
were  doomed  to  undergo,  the  Govej-nment,  under  the  fatal  delu- 
sion that  it  would  enable  them  the  better  to  bear  the  fatigue  and 
perils  of  the  camp  and  the  battle-field,  furnished  them  with  a  por- 
tion of  this  poison  :  And  when  f)ur  independence  was  achieved, 
and  the  army  disbanded,  vast  numbers  carried  with  them,  into  all 
sections  of  tiie  country,  the  diseased  appetite,  which  the  use  of  spi- 
rits never  fails  to  create ;  and  so  rapidly  did  the  contagion  spread, 
that  before  fifty  years  of  our  national  existence  had  elajjscd,  it 
required  more  than  sixty  millions  of  gallons  to  meet  its  demands  : 
And  though  all  sober  men  saw  and  deplored  tlie  evil,  yet  these 
demands  were  ever  increasing;  things  were  growing  from  bad 
to  worse. 

The  chemist,  after  a  rigid  analysis  of  alcohol,  had  pi'onounced 
it  a  poison.  The  j)hysician  joined  him  in  its  denunciation.  Its 
own  eilects  proved  it  a  poison.  Still,  so  fashionable  and,  unfor- 
tunately, so  genteel  had  the  use  of  it  become,  and  such  was  its 
power  to  deceive  tiiose  who  used  it,  that  the  mass  of  the  people 
persuaded  themselves,  that  moderately  taken  it  was  salubiious, 
and  to  laboring  men  even  needful. 


Tlie  arm V  of  (Irinikards  w;i3  nmrctiiiui  tiiiCc  luiiuh-cd  thoii'janfl 
strong;  and  Ihougli  fail-  Htaliwtics  have  shown,  that  of  thi.s  liost 
thirty  thousand  were  cut  oft'  each  year  hy  the  hardness  of  tlic  ser- 
vice, yet  sucii  was  the  activity  and  such  the  success  oftiie  recrtiit- 
i]ig  oilicers— the  importers,  inanufactiircrs  and  venders — tiiat  tho 
ranks  of  tliis  great  ai'sny,  instead  of  being  thinned  hy  the  annual 
loss  of  thirty  thousand  n^.cn,  were  hecomiiig  stil!  more  crowded. 

Dr.  Rusi^,  had  inain.tained  (hat  '*  ail  kinds  of  business  wor^ld 
be  better  without  the  use  of  sjjirituous  liquors  ;  and  t!n\t  tiseie  are 
but  one  or  tvro  cases,  in  which  they  can  he  used  without  essential 
injiii-y";  and  Ciiajjman,  'Mliat  tiic  evlh>  of  using  them  are  so 
great,  that  the  emptying  of  Pandora's  box  was  but  a  type  of  what 
has  been  exj)crienced  by  the  dilfusion  of  tiicsc  liquors  among  the 
liuman  I'ace." 

Judge  Hale,  after  twenty  years'  cxijcriencc  and  observation, 
had  declared,  '*  that  if  all  tlie  riiurders,  and  manslaughters,  and 
burglai-ics,  robberies,  j-iots  and  tumults,  adulteries,  rapes  and 
other  high  eiutrmities,  which  had  been  committed  in  that  time, 
were  divided  into  five  jjarts.  four  of  them  would  he  found  tofl(!SV 
fi'om  intemperance."  The  SlicriiT  of  London  and  Middlesex  had 
publicly  denounced  ardent  H[)iiit  as  the  *  I'oot  of  all  evils.'  The 
Fi'ieiuls  had  foibidden  thcii*  members  to  engage  in  the  trafiic,  and 
discountenanced  the  use  as  an  immorality.  But,  notwithstand- 
ing these  and  similar  testimonies,  which  it  were  endless  to  enu- 
merate, the  evil  still  continued  to  grow;  and  wc  seemed  in  dan- 
ger of  becoming  what  the  malice  of  oui'  enemies  some  years  ago 
designated  us — '  a  nation  of  drunkards.' 

But,  in  the  lasiguage  of  the  Fourth  Repoi  t  of  the  American 
Tempei'ance  Society,  '-a  great  change  has  taken  place,  and  one, 
whicli,  in  tiie  rapidity  and  extent  of  its  })rogress,  has  no  j)arallel 
in  the  histor'y  of  man.  Already  is  it  sjxtken  of  hy  the  Vi  ise  and 
good  in  this  and  other  countries,  as  one  of  tiic  wonders  of  tho 
world." 

*'  The  great  discoveiy,"  says  a  European  writer,  "  has  at 
length  come  forth,  like  the  light  of  a  new  day,  that  the  tcinperate 
membei-s  of  society  are  the  chief  agents  in  promoting  and  perpe- 
tuating drunkenness.  On  whose  miiid  this  great  truth  first  rose, 
is  not  known.  WImever  he  was,  whether  humble  or  great,  peace 
to  his  memory.  He  has  done  more  for  the  good  of  the  world, 
than  he  who  enriched  it  with  the  knowdedgc  of  a  new  continent. 
But  for  him,  Americans  and  Europeans  might  have  continued  to 
countenance  tlie  moderate,  ordinary  use  of  a  substance,  whoso 
most  nmderate,  oi-dinary  use  is  danger;  and  amidst  a  flood  of 
prejudice  and  temptation  urged  onward  by  themselves,  they  would 
have  made  rules  against  drunkenness,  like  ropes  of  sand,  to  ba 
burst  and  buried  by  the  coming  wave." 


*  Trmperaiice  Societies',  says  aiiotlier,  'have  arisen  on  our 
liar  kticss,  like  iFie  clieci-iiig  star  of  hope.  Tlicy  now  flash  across 
our  Eastern  Hemisphere,  with  the  bright  and  beantcous  radiance 
of  the  bow  of  ])romise.' 

*  It  would  be  an  act  of  ingratitude  to  our  x\merican  friends', 
says  a  thii'd,  '  were  we,  in  any  degree,  to  tiirow  into  the  shade, 
the  obligations  under  which  we  lie  to  them,  for  having  originated 
this  noble  cause.  If  tiie  names  of  >Yashington  and  others,  are 
ilerscrvedly  dear  to  them,  for  their  struggles  in  the  cause  of  free- 
dom, then  are  other  nann-s,  which  \\\l\  descend  to  the  latest  pos- 
terity, as  tiie  deliveiers  of  their  counti-y  from  a  thraldom  more 
dreadful  l)y  far  than  any  foreign  yoke.' 

Well  may  we  regard  it  matter  of  honest  pride  and  patriotic 
exultation,  tliat  the  temi)erancc  reformation  had  its  origin  *  in  our 
own,  our  native  land.'  It  is  well  known  that  Englishme^n  have 
long  h)oked  on  every  thing  American  with  an  eye  of  jealousy  at 
least,  if  not  of  hostility.  I?ut  here,  our  father-land,  while  it  may 
well  envy  ns  the  honor,  acknowledges  the  obligation,  follows  in 
our  wake,  and  cheers  us  onward. 

The  Royal  Pati'iotic  Society  of  Sweden  applied,  some  years 
ago,  for  our  tcmjiei'ancc  Journals,  and  expressed  a  strong  wish  to 
become  acfpiained  with  tiie  oi-ganization  and  mode  of  proceeding 
of  our  temperance  societies.  The  Journals  wei-e  sent,  and  the 
jjrinciples  of  the  reformation  sjji'ead  like  wildfire. 

Our  temperance  tracts  have  been  published  in  three  diflercnt 
languages  in  Russia,  and  are  pi'oducing  wonderful  effects  in  that 
vast  empire,  to  the  very  bordeis  of  China  and  Persia.  Our  coun- 
try stands  on  a  proud  moi-al  elevation,  and  great  is  her  respon- 
.sii)ility.  '  In  Englainl,  Ireland  and  ScotlamI:  Sweden,  Denmark 
and  Russia:  Germany,  India  and  China:  Afi'ica  and  the  Islands* 
of  the  Sea,*  men  are  waking  from  the  slumber  of  ages,  and  fol- 
lowing our  example.'  They  look  to  us  for  information,  acknow- 
ledge tlieir  obligations  to  our  j)rioi'ity,  and  cheer  us  in  cnr  march. 
And  shall  wc  slack  our  efforts  ?  ^yllile  the  Christian  missionary 
from  tiic  United  States  is  in  each  quarter  of  the  globe,  laboring 
by  the  light  of  tlic  gospel,  to  dispel  the  darkness  of  superstition, 
and  tiic  thick  darkness  of  paganism,  and  our  temp'crance  ])ubli- 
cations  have  gone  -to  his  aid,  as  potent  auxiliaries  in  his  holy 
work,  shall  we  take  off  our  armour,  ami  yield  ourselves  up  to  iu- 
gloi'ious  ease,  until  tlie  foe  of  God  and  oui"  country  shall  I'ccover 
strength,  ajid  re-open  his  campaign  with  invigorated  rage  and 
accumulated  numbers  ?     Or  will  we  leave  the  field  to  drink  the 


*  In  one  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  is  a  I'cmperance  Society  embracing  seven  hun- 
dred members.  The  traffic  in  Bpirits  is  prohibited  b\-  law  ;  and  a  man  was  fined  200 
(dollars  for  selling  a  single  bottle.  Yet  these  islanders,  a  few  years  ago,  were  &3  fond 
cf  jiiloxieating  drinks  as  the  Aborigines  of  America. 


\ 


blood  of  those  who  have  nobly  led  the  vau,  or  ci'own  their  l-.row 
with  laui'els  tiiat  the  world  might  envy,  while  wc  sliare  neitlicr 
the  perils  nor  the  mead  of  praise  ?  Let  us  not  retire  from  a  con- 
fiict  so  auspiciously  be^un.  Perseveranr e,  and  persevcj'ance  alone, 
can  insure  |)erma!ient  success.  I  trust  we  shall  not  in  this  re- 
semble tlie  Jews,  who,  after  having  given  birth  iu  the  Saviour  of 
mankind,  left  the  rest  of  tiie  world  to  enjoy  the  benefits  of  his 
salvation,  abjuring  it  for  themselves.  In  order  to  bring  about  a 
consummation  so  devoutly  to  l)e  wished,  it  is  of  the  last  impor- 
tance, that  each  society,  indeed  that  each  individual  friendly  to 
the  cause — every  sobei-  man,  whethei'  young  or  old — should  con- 
tribute his  influence.  Public  obligation  is  made  up  of  indivi- 
dual obligation.  Each  should  work  as  if  the  whole  work  were 
his  own. 

If  wc  except  the  American  Temjierancc  Society,  the  Con- 
gressional and  the  several  State  Tem[)erance  Societies,  there  is 
no  other  in  the  United  States  more  intd'esfing.  oi'  more  impor- 
tant, than  the  College  Tem])erance  Societies. 

I  congratulate  you,  my  young  friends,  and  I  congraiulale 
North  Carolina  on  the  formation  of  your  Society.  Depend  uj)on 
it,  your  efforts  in  this  good  cause  are  not  viewed  with  indifference 
by  the  pati'iots  and  philanthropists  of  oui-  State.  You  have  their 
best  wishes  and  tlteir  prayers:  ami  while  they  bid  you  God  speed, 
they  look  forwai'd  with  earnest  desires  to  the  ])eriod,  when  Col- 
lege sentiment  shall  have  expelled  the  waters  of  death  from  Col- 
lege walls,  and  their  sons  may  be  sent  to  tiiis — the  only  State 
literary  institution — to  enjoy  the  advantages  of  solid  and  useful 
education,  free  from  the  danger  of  contracting  habits  of  vice  and 
dissipation,  for  which  the  finest  literary  attainments  can  make 
no  adequate  amends. 

For  myself  individually,  I  cannot  but  feel  an  intei'cst  pecu- 
liarly strong  in  your  Society;  for  I  see  identified,  in  no  small 
degree  with  its  success,  the  character  of  my  ow  n  '  alma  mater.* 
The  character  of  the  students  constitutes,  in  the  estimation  of  a 
parent  at  least,  the  grand  feature  in  the  character  of  a  College. 
Able  professors  it  may  have;  but  these  make  only  the  scholar? 
it  is  the  students  that  make  the  man  :  the  professor  operates  on 
the  intellect — the  students  on  the  heart.  Besides,  I  sec  here  some 
whose  faces  are  familiar  to  me  ;  w  hose  young  and  yet  unsteady 
steps  it  was  my  lot  to  guide  along  what  to  thVm  i)robably  seemed 
the  rugged  and  forbidding  paths  of  incipient  education.  'Memory 
recals  their  first  i)aiuful  and  disheartciiing  efforts,  and  the  ])ro- 
gressive  steps  of  intellectual  development ;  how  mountains  melted 
down  to  mole-hills,  and  dilliculties  which  once  discouraged,  now 
only  animated  exertion.  It  can  bear  witness,  too,  to  the  ardent 
aspirings  of  youthful  emulation — to  the  tenderness  of  virtuous 


8 

feasibility — to  the  honoi'ablo  ambition  Ui  merit  the  regard  of  ihwir 
xeachet',  atul  to  gladden  the  hearts  of  their  pare:its  and  friejul^, 
by  the  semi-anntr.il  testiir.onial  of  good  dcpoi'tment  and  good  scho- 
Ias'shi[) :  A?id  the  friendly  greetir.g.  the  cordia!  shake  of  the  Ijand, 
The  kiiid  inquiry  and  the  conudciitial  letter,  are  so  many  grateful 
evidences,  that  eiTorts  honest  arid  sincere,  however  feebie,  to  pro- 
mote their  nior;'.!  and  literary  advancement,  are  luit  forgotten. 
Not  to  reciprocate  heartily  tJiose  feelings  of  interest  and  Iriend- 
sliip,  were  iniptissible.  I  know  tiiat  these,  and  indeed  I  feel  con- 
fident that  all  my  young  (liends  will  allow  mc  the  libcitj  of  ali 
plainness  of  speech  ,;  and  w  hatcver  value  they  may  set  on  the 
suggestions  I  may  make,  they  will  at  least  do  me  the  justice  to 
he  assured  tiiat  tiiey  emaiiate  fronj  the  sincerity  of  conviction  and 
the  honesty  of  friendship. 

And  are  none  of  my  young  friends  in  danger  from  the  gradual 
and  almost  imi)erce[)tible  advances  of  an  insidious  foe,  wdiich, 
undei'  the  guise  o!'  innocence  and  sociality,  has  first  thi'own  off 
their  guard,  then  led  in  gid<ly  frolic,  tlicn  bound  fast  in  the  iron 
chain  of  habit,  hundreds  and  thousa)ids  of  unsuspecting,  thea 
tlesi)airing,  and  then  unresisting  victims?  Think  }ou  that  your 
noble  natures,  which  now'  shrink  with  hr)rror  from  the  thought 
of  the  drunkard's  degradation,  the  drunkard's  life  and  the  drunk- 
ard's death,  cannot  bo  sensualized  arid  brutalized  as  othei's  ?— 
Can  you  forget  that  Jio  keenness  of  moral  susceptibility,  no  rc- 
fe'pectability  of  connexions,  no  acuteness  of  intellectual  discrimi- 
nation, no  brilliancy  of  genius,  no  superiority  of  talents,  can  ex- 
cm\)t  the  habitual  tliough  moderate  drinkei-,  from  the  operation 
of  that  constitutional  law^  of  our  nature,  which  drags  him  down 
by  a  force  as  fatal  as  it  is  irresistible,  frou)  the  highest  elevation 
of  human  refinement,  to  a  level  even  lower  than  that  of  the  bi-ute  ? 
Can  you  foi-get  that  the  noblest  powers  of  mind  have  been  pros- 
trated b}'  lo\c  of  drink,  induced  first  by  quaffing  occasionally 
the  social  bowl,  and  afterwards  matured  by  the  regular  mornirig 
<li'am  and  noonday  grog  ?  The  conqueror  of  the  world  was  him- 
self conquered  by  wine.  The  )Scottisli  bard  yidded,  (who  would 
believe  that  the  author  of  the  Cotter's  Saturday  Night  could  con= 
ibCnt  to  besot  a  mind,  formed  in  nature's  finest  mould,  by  beastly 
intem[)erance  ?)  he  did  not  consent — he  yielded,  after  many  a  hard 
struggle,  to  the  irresistible  force  of  a  tyrant  appetite,  which  had 
chained  him  prisoner  ere  he  was  aware.  He  felt  the  degrada- 
tion, he  deplored  it,  he  strove  against  it,  but  was  cruslied  in  tho 
tyrant's  grasp. 

The  accomplislied  Sir  Richard  Steele,  who  has  been  styled 
*  the  most  innocent  rake  tliat  ever  trod  the  rounds  of  dissipation,' 
had  acquired  in  the  camp  a  fondness  for  spiiits;  and  though  his 
gaieties  and  revels  did  not  exclude  the  compuiictious  visitings  of 


conscience,  in  the  lioin's  of  cool  reflection,  (for  it  was  in  these 
that  he  drew  up  his  little  ti-eatisc  entitled  'The  Christian  Hero,* 
with  the  design,  if  wc  may  helie\  e  himself,  of  beir)g  a  check  upon 
his  passions,)  yet  despite  tlie  consciousness  of  iiis  traiiscendant 
powers  of  mind,  dcsi)itc  a  humiliating  sense  of  the  baseness  of  the 
j)assion,  despite  his  association  witli  the  elegant  and  amiable  Ad- 
dison in  the  autliorship  of  the  Spectator,  despite  the  favor  of  Queen 
Anne,  intemperance  and  its  concomitant  train  of  vices,  impaired 
his  intellect,  made  him  a  miserable  paralytic,  and  sent  him  before 
liis  time  to  tlic  grave.  But  wliy  multiply  the  painful  illustration 
of  tiic  fact,  unliapi)ily  too  well  jjroven,  that  the  noblest  intellectual 
endowments  cannot  secure  tlie  man,  who  allows  himself  to  indulge 
in  the  habitual  tliough  moderate  use  of  ardent  sj)ii'its,  from  the 
infamy  of  the  drunkard  ?  Well  said  Cassio  in  the  Play,  *'  Oh  I 
that  men  should  put  an  enemy  in  their  moutlis  to  steal  away  their 
bi-ains  ;  that  wc  should  with  Joy,  revel.,  pleasure  and  applause, 
transform  ourselves  into  beasts!'' 

True,  some  men  can  and  do  restrict  themselves  to  a  glass  or 
two  a  day,  for  a  long  succession  of  years,  without  adding  to  the 
quantity;  but  our  own  observation  ])roves  that  very  few  compa- 
ratively can  so  restrain  themselves:  Nor  is  it  by  any  means  cer- 
tain tliat  this  moderate  indulgence  is  admitted  with  real,  though 
it  may  be,  with  apparent  impunity.  It  is  said  by  Dr.  Hosack, 
and  the  same  fact  is  stated  in  McKenzie's  5000  Receipts,  that  in 
consequence  of  tlie  habitual  tempei'ancc  among  the  Friends,  one 
half  of  tlie  members  of  that  society  live  to  the  age  of  47 ;  and  that 
one  in  ten  lives  to  the  age  of  80  :  whereas  the  avei-age  of  human 
life  is  33,  and  not  more  than  one  in  40  of  the  general  population 
attains  the  age  of  80.  Here,  then,  is  a  gaiji  by  temperance  of 
more  than  14  years  in  every  life,  or  about  42  \)cv  cent.  A  dis- 
tinguislied  medical  writer  has  given  it  as  his  opinion  that  a  single 
ounce  of  spirits  daily  used  and  never  exciting  cbriety,  will  deduct 
ten  years  from  tlie  sum  of  a  man's  life.  This  oi)inion  was  given, 
too,  before  the  ingenious  cupidily  of  manufacturers  and  dealers 
had  contrived  means  to  increase  tiicir  ungodly  gains  by  adultera- 
ting their  liquors  with  water,  and  giving  them  the  proper  strength 
and  bead  by  the  admixture  of  sundry  poisonous  drugs;  thus  in- 
creasing the  virulence  and  intensity  of  the  poison,  while  they  take 
due  care  to  leave  a  sufficient  spice  of  the  pure  spirit  to  deceive  the 
palate  and  inflame  the  api)ctite.  On  this  subject,  some  cui'ious 
and  some  diabolical  disclosures  have  been  made  within  the  last 
few  years.  I  bog  leave  to  mention  a  single  one  of  the  former 
character.  A  whiskey  distiller  carried  a  load  of  that  article  to 
a  grocer  in  New- York,  with  whom  he  was  in  the  habit  of  dealing, 
and  wished  to  exchange  it  for  Madeira  wine.  The  grocer  re- 
gretted that  he  had  none  on  hand  just  then,  but  assured  his  cus- 
tomer that  if  he  would  wait  'till  the  next  morning,  he  could  fur- 
nish him,  as  he  was  every  moment  expecting  a  supply  of  the  first 

2 


10 

quality.  In  the  course  of  the  niglit,  the  ii1eiitir;il  whiskey  liad 
been,  by  some  strange  ])roce.ss,  converted  into  douhle  the  quantity 
of  genuine  Madeira,  and  snugiy  stowed  away  in  casks  made  to 
order,  having  all  the  bi*ands  and  veritable  ru-stom-hoiisc  marks. 
With  this  our  iionest  grocer  supplied  his  friend,  at  the  moderate 
rate  of  one  gallon  of  Madeira  for  four  of  whiskey.  I  iiave  seen 
it  stated,  that  more  \vinc,  purporting  to  be  Madeira,  was  manu- 
factured in  the  single  city  of  New-York,  in  the  year  1832,  than 
was  exported  from  the  whole  island.  How  many  honest  pe()i)lo 
fancy  themselves  genteelly  cxhiliratcd  with  genuine  Madeira, 
when  in  fact  they  are  half  seas  over  with  whiskey  or  New  Eng- 
land rum. 

Our  natural  appetites,  as  the  a])petite  for  food,  and  water,  and 
sleep,  may  be  gratified  without  increasing  in  their  demands  :  but 
artificial  api)etites — and  let  it  never  be  foi-gottcn  that  the  ai)pe- 
tite  for  alcoholic  drinks  is  an  artificial  one — for  no  one  was  ever 
born  a  drujikard,  or  with  a  diutikard's  taste,  except,  it  may  be, 
by  inheritance  fi-om  besotted  parents — nor  did  any  one  ever  be- 
come a  drunkard  all  at  once — artificial  a])petites,  by  the  law  of 
our  nature,  become  moi-e  clamorous  in  proportioii  as  they  ai-e  in- 
dulged. Every  glass  does  some  violence  to  the  delicate  and  com- 
plicated machinery  of  the  nervous  system,  and  every  j'epctition 
ticstroys  the  harmony  of  some  one  of  the  thousand  strings  of  which 
life  is  comj)ose(!  :  And  though  a  strong  sense  of  tiie  danger  of  in- 
creasing the  quantity,  and  a  tender  regard  to  rej)ntation  may  keep 
some  men  within  the  limits  of  a  daily  glass,  yet  the  exjierimoit  is 
so  fraught  with  danger;  the  road  which  the  temperate  drinker  tra- 
vels is  so  beset  with  siiares  and  pit-fall?,  so  haunted  with  ghastly 
spectics,  and  so  sti'ewed  with  the  skulls  and  bleaching  bones  and 
bloated  carcassos  of  unwary  victims,  that  a  wise  man  must  shrink 
from  pursuing  it. 

Besides,  ob.sei'vation  proves  that  nine  out  often  of  those  who 
do  escape  the  perils  of  this  dangerons  path,  did  not  begin  to  indulge 
themselves  in  the  luxury  of  a  daily  di-ani  'till  they  had  acquired 
the  firm  strength  of  manhood,  and  their  physical  powers  had  been 
fully  develojicd  and  matured.  Not  so  when  tiie  taste  is  formed 
in  youth.  If  the  lad  of  sixteen  or  eighteen  should  try  the  expe- 
riment, he  becomes  almost  inevitably  a  sot,  and  does  not  live  out 
half  his  days.  How  many,  and  oh!  how^  heart-rending  are  the 
instances  of  premature  old  age  and  death  from  this  veiy  cause! 
Many  such  aie  known  to  myself — of  my  own  pupils  not  less  than 
two  certainly. 

And  does  this  Iiistitution,  consecrated  to  learning  and  science, 
present  any  temptations  to  the  youthful  disciple,  to  forsv/ear  his 
allegiance  to  the  muses  and  to  virtue,  and  becoiue  a  votary  of  tiie 
most  stu]»id  and  disgusting  of  all  the  ancient  gods — thii  god  of 
wine  ?  Fain  would  we  answer  jio  :  but  our  own  observation 
checks  the  woi*d  ero  we  utter  it.     Often  has  it  happened  (and  in 


a 

more  than  one  iii.stiuicc  to  my  own  knowledge)  that  thu  love  of 
tlic  inebriate's  bowl  wa.s  first  iiccjiiii-cd  here.  From  the  shojjs  in 
this  very  village  has  the  intoxicating  beverage  been  often  introdii- 
ceil  into  tlinse  bnihiings,  to  awaken  a  new  hilarity  in  the  Collego 
coterie.  Snch  was  the  case  when  I  was  a  student;  and  deep  lias 
been  the  forfeit.  A  class-mate  of  my  own,  a  young  man  of  robust 
constitution,  amiable  (lis[)osi(ion,  and  tlic  most  rcsj)cctablc  con- 
nexions, learned  in  Colicgc  to  love  strong  drink.  In  less  than 
four  years  after  he  left  this  place,  he  died  a  miserable  sot,  before 
lie  was  twenty  five,  in  all  llie  nameless  horrors  of  delirium  tre- 
mens!— A  youiig  man  of  a  class  below,  who  allured  him  to  the 
bacchanal  revel,  had  run  tiie  druiikai'd's  short  career,  and  met 
his  awful  retribution  before  him. — Over  the  untimely  grave  of  a 
third  were  iiis  friends  called  to  woep  the  bitter  tears  of  high  but 
disappointed  hopr-.  The  fotindatioji  of  his  disease  was  laid  here 
In  tlie  convivial  glass. — A  lad  of  promise,  once  a  pupil  of  my  ow'n, 
afterwards  a  student  of  this  Uni\ersity,  wns,  before  he  reached 
twenty,  stretched  upo'.i  his  death-bed,  in  all  the  decrepitude  of  pre- 
mature old  age,  and  still  sujjjilicating  in  sepulchral  accents  for 
more  of  the  poison  which  had  laid  him  there. 

One  of  Carolina's  gifted  sons,  an  ornament  for  a  time  of  the 
bar,  a  man  who  might  have  graced  the  Senate  chamber  of  the 
nation,  learned  while  a  stisdcnt  here,  in  the  infancy  of  the  Insti- 
tution, to  qui'.ff  the.  foaming  b  >wi.  Tlie  iiabitgrew  on  him.  Occa- 
sionally he  suspended  it;  but  as  often  was  his  resolution  broken: 
And  nov/  ho  lives — the  tire  of  his  bright  intellect  quenched — the 
miserable  wreck  of  his  former  self — a  bui-dcn  on  the  children 
whose  rightful  patrimony  he  had  squandered,  and  whose  mother's 
heart,  a  woman  among  the  loveliest  of  her  sex,  his  unfeeling  bru- 
tality had  br(dcen:  And  }et  he  \\  as  once  a  kind  father,  and  a  ten- 
der and  affectioiiatc  husband. 

Had  we  a  biographical  sketch  of  all  the  alumni  of  this  Insti- 
tution, in  how  many  instances  wo!tld  tise  histoi-y  be  recorded  in 
a  few  words  like  these.  "While  young  he  learned  to  partake  of 
the  cO'ivivial  cup:  Once  or  twice  on  a  College  holiday,  on  the 
£2d  Febi'uary,  or  on  a  skating  frolic,  he  drank  too  much:  the 
Jiabit  grew  on  him;  lie  was  scarcely  settled  in  business  before 
he  tlirew  himself  away.  He  is  dead!  How  aptly  does  Hannali 
Moore  compare  tlie  sending  of  a  boy  to  College  to  the  act  of  the 
Scythian  mothers,  wiio  threw  their  new-born  children  into  the 
sea.  The  greater  part  of  course  j)erished :  but  those  that  escaped 
were  uncommonly  stiong  and  vigorous. 

A  young  man  of  extraordinary  genius,  who  was  graduated  at 
I'rinceton  with  the  first  distinction,  was  seen  by  a  party  of  stu- 
dents, in  less  than  one  short  year,  lying  in  the  street — his  brow, 
so  recently  crowned  with  the  laurels  of  the  college,  now  begrimed 
with  dirt.  On  observing  in  the  young  men  a  disposition  to  make 
themselves  meri'y  at  his  expense,  with  some  effort  he  raised  him- 
self a  little,  and  sujjported  on  his  elbows,  addressed  them  in  Ian- 


12 

guage  like  tliis:  '  Young  men,  I  once  stood  erect  nnd  walkcil 
firmly  on  the  ground  as  you  do  now.  Had  I  been  told  but  a  year 
ago  that  I  would  be  found  in  my  present  cojidition,  I  should  have 
contemned  the  propliet,  and  exclaimed,  as  did  one  of  old,  *  Is  thy 
servant  a  dog,  that  he  should  do  this  thing  ?'  It  is  ardent  sj)irit, 
fit  only  to  be  concocted  in  hell  and  swallowed  by  devils,  that  has 
prostrated  me  in  this  vile  mud,  and  made  me  despise  myself. — 
Laugh  not  at  a  poor  ruined  wretch,  who  can  no  longer  control 
the  raging  fury  of  his  a])pctitc.  Be  I'ather  admo'ilKlicd  by  his 
exam[)lc;  and  as  you  regard  your  icj)utation,  as  you  love  your- 
selves, beware.of  iheji7st  glass,  bcv.are  of  the  CcUcgeivine  party, 
the  morning  di-am,  and  the  evening  potation.' 

Young  men  need  no  ai-tificial  excitement.  They  are  tiot  only 
healthier,  but  hajjpier  without  it.  The  pleasure  of  getting  drunk 
is  overbalanced  by  the  pain  of  getting  sober. 

'  Fiicllis  descensus  Averni  ; 

Sed  revorare  grudum,  superasque  evadere  ad  auras, 
Hoc  opus,  liic  labor  est.' 

Leaving  all  ulterior  consequences  out  of  view,  the  sober,  indus- 
trious student  enjoys  a  greater  sum  of  happiness  in  his  College 
course,  tiian  his  more  merry  companion.  His  ha])piness  resem- 
bles the  gentle  rivulet  llowing  from  a  |)prennial  si)i'iiig;  that  of 
tlie  dram-drinker  is  like  the  gushing  of  the  fitful  syphon,  which 
is  presently  dry,  'till  the  reservoir  be  again  filled. 

Young  men  should  regard  entire  abstinence  and  temperance 
as  synonomous  terms.  A  single  glass  is  just  a  glass  too  much, 
and  provokes  to  anotlier;  the  second  to  a  third,  and  the  sum  of 
the  sci'ies  is  prostration  of  body  and  often  of  reason.  If  anger 
may  be  called  temporary  madness,  surely  intemperance  deserves 
not  a  milder  name.  Indeed,  more  than  half  of  the  unfortunate 
beings  who  are  locked  up  in  the  Lunatic  Asylums  in  tiiis  countrj' 
and  in  Euro{)e,  arc  known  to  owe  their  insanity  to  intemperance. 
And  though  it  was  in  most  instances  the  result  of  a  protiacted 
course  of  Mululgence,  yet  reason  was  by  little  and  little  dethroned. 
It  was  long  befoi-e  the  throne  began  to  totter  ;  but  the  first  glass 
dissolved  one  small  particle  of  the  foundation,  and  so  commenced 
the  breach. 

I  have  known  young  men  afraid  to  inspire  exhilirating  gas, 
lest  under  its  influence  they  should  betray  some  trait  of  character, 
Avhich  they  would  prefer  to  conceal.  Much  more  should  they 
fear  to  swallow  tiiat  exciter  of  the  passions — that  traitor  to  cha- 
racter— ardent  spirit. 

A  Dutchman,  who  was  removing  with  his  family  to  the  west- 
ern part  of  Virginia,  came  to  the  Hot  Springs.  Pleased  with  the 
appearance  of  the  soil,  and  tlic  majestic  grandeur  of  tlie  forest, 
he  told  his  sons  he  should  like  to  stop  there;  and  directing  them 
to  ungear  the  horses,  he  went  down  to  the  s{)ring  to  try  the  wa- 
ter. Alarmed  at  its  temperature,  he  hurried  back  to  the  wagon, 
exclaiming,   *  Gear  up  boys,  gear  up;  for  be  sure,  hell  ish  not 


13 

more  as  half  a  mile  from  dish  jilacc' — We  hutgli  at  the  igiioi-ant 
terrors  of  the  honest  Dutchman:  but  thei*e  arc  Springs  in  tliis  vil- 
lage much  nearer  the  region  which  was  the  object  of  his  dread, 

which  arc  always  ready  to  flow,  and  burn   too,  for    six  pence 

Avoid  them,  my  young  friends;  '  pass  not  by  them  ;  turn  from 
them  and  pass  away,  lest  your  feet  go  down  to  death,  and  your 
stejjs  lay  hi;'.'!  on  liell.' 

A  cotenijjorary  of  mine  in  college  had  been  remarkably  dis- 
tinguished for  his  sobriety,  reguiai-ity  and  indefatigable  applica- 
tion to  study,  from  the  time  he  entered  college  until  the  senior 
report  was  read.  During  this  whole  perioil,  he  was  not  once 
absent  from  prayei'S  or  recitation.  I  was  in  habits  of  familiar 
intercourse  with  him,  and  never  knew  or  heai'd  of  his  tasting  s])i- 
rits.  In  the  lower  classes,  he  ranked  with  the  first  divisioji  iii 
scholarship.  With  the  senior  rep  irt  he  manifested  some  dissa- 
tisfaction, but  said  little.  I'lie  evening  after  it  was  i'ead,  he  pro- 
cured some  spirits,  got  drunk,  and  was  a  raving  madman;  de- 
clared he  had  been  unjustly  cheated  of  his  dues,  tiie  Latin  speech, 
(tliougli,  by  the  bye,  lie  was  j)erfectly  singular  in  this  opinion,) 
loaded  a  pistol,  and  swore  by  all  tliat  was  good  and  bad,  he  would 
shoot  one  of  the  Professors,  \\ho,  in  his  mania,  he  supjjosed  was 
the  author  of  the  injustice.  The  pistol  was  wrested  from  him 
and  secreted  ;  and  when  the  paroxism  seemed  to  have  subsided, 
and  those  who  had  taken  the  oversight  of  him  had  retired,  he  rose 
and  staggered  towards  tlic  Pi-ofessor's,  yelled  a  drunken  defiance, 
and  began  to  stone  the  house:  and  had  not  the  worthy  Professor 
been  asleep,  or  more  inclined  to  {)ity  ilian  to  punish,  it  had  been 
easy  to  apprehend  him,  before  his  fellow-students,  who  hai)pene(l 
to  overhear  him,  could  have  made  good  bis  retreat,  and  all  must 
have  acquiesced  in  the  justice  of  his  dismission.  We  know  not 
how  strangely  a  single  debauch  may  metamorphose  us. 

How  large  a  proportion  of  College  disturbances  and  College 
discijjline  might  be  traced  to  tbc  hot  springs.  The  ancient  Eac- 
chanalia  were  always  celebi-ated  with  wine,  with  the  accompani- 
ment of  the  cymbal  and  other  musical  instruments.  How  far  the 
tin  trumpet  and  the  cow-bell,  which  have  been  known  to  break  the 
silence  of  the  night  in  modern  times,  may  have  owed  their  charm- 
ing melody  to  a  kindi-ed  inspiration,  we  have  imt  the  means  of 
detcrnuning.  One  thing,  however,  is  certain,  that  in  those  Semi- 
naries in  the  Nortli,  in  which  all  the  students  have  signed  the 
temj)erance  pledge,  such  music  is  no  longer  heard. 

Di-.  Hosack  dissected  a  man  who  died  in  a  fit  of  intoxication. 
♦  In  the  cavities  of  the  brain,'  says  Isc,  *  we  found  the  usual  quan- 
tity of  limpid  fluid.  When  we  smelt  it,  the  odour  of  wiiiskey  was 
distinctly  perceptible;  and  when  we  applied  the  candle  to  a  por- 
tion in  a  spoon,  it  actually  burnt  blue — tlie  lambent  blue  flame, 
characteristic  of  the  jjoison,  playing  on  the  surface  of  the  spoon 
for  some  sccomls.'  Can  wc  wonder,  then,  tiiat  it  destroys  reason  ? 
It  is  a  poison  in  the  brain;  and  no  wonder  those  who  take  aiittlc, 


14 

have  less  reason  than  those  who  take  none.  Still,  some  men 
Jiave  sense  and  sensibility  enough  to  despise  tlieniselves  for  being 
drunkanls,  while  they  want  fortitude  and  strength  to  break  the 
chain.  Others  again,  veteran  topers,  have  become  so  callous  and 
besotted  as  to  glory  in  their  shame;  while  a  third  class  see  and 
scorn  the  brutisiiness  of  otiiers,  but  are  strangely  blind  to  tiicii* 
own.  Two  brothers  in  Kentucky,  where  tiie  soil  is  rich,  and  in 
wet  weather  the  mud  very  dec]),  were  returning  one  evening  from 
the  grog-shop  to  their  home.  The  way  led  through  a  mii-y  lane. 
The  one,  losing  his  centre  of  gravity,  lay  extended  at  full  length 
in  the  mud.  The  other,  m  ho  had  staggered  to  the  road  side,  and 
was  maintaining  his  perpendicularity  by  holding  fast  to  tlie  fence, 
upon  seeing  his  brother's  shameful  pi-edicament,  exclaimed,  in  a 
tone  of  indignant  reproacii,    '  John,  1  wouldn't  be  a  hog.* 

Allow  mc  to  say,  that  we  arc  engaged  in  no  sectarian  cause. 
All  denominations  of  christians,  however  they  may  dilfcr  in  other 
matters,  can  and  do  unite  here  :  And  hcie  every  good  man,  tvcvy 
patriot,  every  friend  of  the  human  race,  may  unite  with  tliem.— 
Some  of  the  greatest  Statesmen  in  our  own  and  other  countries, 
ai'c  found  in  t!ie  Society's  ranks.  The  infidel  can  here  meet  the 
christian  on  common  ground.  The  tcm])crance  cause  knows  no 
party.  It  stands  on  catholic  ground.  Piiilanthropist  is  the 
generic  term  which  includes  the  various  sjiecies  of  its  fi-iends; 
and  here,  as  on  common  ground,  may  every  fiiend  of  man  unite. 

I  have  presented  this  subject,  my  young  fi'iends,  almost  ex- 
clusively in  its  bearings  on  your  individual  and  secular  interests. 
Should  we  carry  it  out  to  its  legitimate  limits,  and  contemplate 
it  in  its  moral,  social  and  j)olitical  bearings,  on  our  own  country 
and  on  the  woild,  but  especially,  should  we  regard  it  in  iis 
bearings  on  the  interests  of  eternity,  into  what  inconceiv- 
able magnitude  would  its  importance  swell.  The  word  of  divine 
inspiration  declares  that  '  no  drunkard  shall  inherit  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.* 

An  autiientic  case  is  reported,  in  which  a  father  used  a  small 
portion  of  spiiit  every  day.  He  was  never  intoxicated,  or  thought 
to  be  in  the  least  degree  intemperate.  He  took  very  litile,  because 
he  thought  it  did  him  goood.  His  children,  following  his  exam- 
ple, took  a  little  axciy  day:  and  so  likewise  did  their  children. 
Five  years  ago  no  less  than  forty  of  tliat  man's  descendants  were 
cither  drunkards,  or  in  a  drunkard's  grave.  Aiiother  father 
adoj)tcd  a  different  plan,  neither  using  it  iiin)self,  noi*  ])ermitting 
it  to  enter  his  dwelling.  He  taugitt  his  children  to  regard  it  as  a 
poison,  a  deadly  poison  :  and  now  there  is  not  a  drunkard  among 
them  ;  nor  has  one  of  his  descendants  ever  sunk  into  a  <lrunkard's 
grave.  Who  can  estimate  tlic  difierent  i-esulls  of  the  diffei-ejit 
courses  pursued  by  these  two  fathers,  when  the  long  lines  of  their 
posterity,  thronghtmt  all  future  ages,  siiall  stand  up  before  them, 
and  before  the  universe,  on  the  last  great  day  ?  And  if  our  minds 
struggle  in  vain  to  grasp  the  different  results  from  a  single  indi- 


15 

vi(]iial*s  adopting  tlie  plan  of  ai)stincnco,  or  of  moderate  dniikliig, 
is  it  not  beyond  an  archangel's  ken  to  conceive  tliat  difforence, 
carried  down  through  all  future  generations,  and  onward  to  eter- 
nity, when  applied  to  the  million  and  a  half  in  our  own  counti-y, 
and  as  many  more  in  others,  now  under  the  influence  of  the  teni- 
pei-ancc  reformation  ? 

And  can  any  one,  young  or  old,  who  but  glances  at  this  sub- 
ject in  its  several  asjjccts,  doubt  for  a  moment  into  which  scalo 
lie  sjiould  throw  the  weight  of  his  name  and  iniiuence  ?  Some,  I 
know,  refuse  fi'om  a  false  shame  to  join  tlie  Tem])erance  Society. 
I  hope  none  of  my  young  friends  want  courage  to  do  riglit.  Some 
again,  think  it  unnecessary,  because  tliey  are  temperate  already, 
and  can  continue  so  as  well  witliout  signing  a  ])ledge.  For  them- 
selves personally  it  may  be  unnecessary:  but  can  a  jiatriot  or  a 
philanthropist  withhold  tiic  influence  of  his  example  for  t!ie  benefit 
«f  others,  tliough  not  personally  interested  himself?  So  did  not 
Secretary  Cass,  thougli  he  had  never  used  sjjirits.  The  question 
has  been  j)ertincntly  asked — Should  a  man  refuse  to  unite  witii 
others  in  draining  a  stagnant  pond,  whicii  was  filling  a  city  with 
pestilence,  and  give  as  his  reason,  that  he  was  in  healtli  already, 
would  he  not  give  sad  evidence  that  his  heart,  if  not  his  head, 
was  disordered  ?  Oi*  if  a  city  were  on  fire,  and  a  man  should 
refuse  his  aid  in  checking  tlie  conflagration,  because  his  own  house 
was  not  in  danger,  how  much  sympathy  would  he  deserve,  if  his 
own  dwelling  should  be  consumed  ? 

Temperance  Societies  are  designed  for  temjiorate  men.  Their 
object  is  to  keep  all  soI)er,  who  are  so  now,  'till  all  irreclaimable 
drunkards  are  dead,"an!l  the  world  is  free.       No  man  can  join 

without  doing  good.     The  world  is  composed  of  individuals 

The  influence  of  the  Universe  is  the  aggregate  of  tlic  iiiiluciice  of 
the  individuals  composing  it.  Let  all  sober  men  unite,  and  Pro- 
vidence will  soon  do  the  rest:  for,  if  no  new  di*unkai'ds  be  made, 
in  one  short  genei-ation  the  vast  ai'mics  of  ii!tem]iei'ance  will  have 
done  their  suicidal  work,  and  the  kind  earth  will  conceal  tlieui 
from  our  view. 

Union  is  strength.  Twenty  men,  united  under  visible  orgar.i- 
zatlon,  will  oi-dinaiily  effect  more  in  ariy  enterprise,  than  twenty 
times  their  number  acting  singly  and  without  co-operation.  Had 
the  Congress  of  '76,  instead  of  signing  tlie  Declaj-ation  of  Inde- 
pendence, and  pledging  to  each  other  '  theirfortuncs,  their  lives, 
and  their  sacred  honoi','  determined  to  o[)])ose  the  enemy  single- 
handed,  as  each  man  best  could,  and  advised  our  forefathers  to 
adopt  the  same  mode  of  defence,  we  liad  been  British  colonies  this 
very  day — British  vassals,  subjected  to  the  severer  ojjijression  for 
our  pitiful,  ill-concei'tcd,  impotent  rebellion.  The  object  of  tliat 
paper  was  not  to  make  men  patriots,  but  to  unite  in  one  organized 
band,  those  who  were  patriots  already.  Such  is  the  object  of  the 
Tenjperance  Society;  and  if  you  ai-e  temperate  already,  this  is 
the  very  reason  why  you  should  join  it. 


16 

Is  there  any  one,  who,  though  temperate  now,  and  designing 
never  to  be  otherwise,  is  ncvertlieless  unwilling  to  si^n  away  his 
liberty?  I  will  not  say  the  liberty  of  being  as  often  and  as  glo- 
riously drunk  as  he  may  choose,  but  the  liberty  of  taking  a  glass 
witii  a  friend,  or  alone,  if  he  should  think  projjei*,  or  feel  so  in- 
clined. If,  when  tliat  immortal  instrument  was  presented  for  sig- 
nature, one  had  said,  *'  I  do  not  like  to  hind  myself  never  to  sei-ve 
King  George;  I  do  not  serve  him  now  ;  nor  do  I  design  to  do  so: 
but  I  am  not  willing  to  sign  away  my  lihcrty  of  being  bis  subject, 
if  I  should  choose,"  would  tlic  men  of '76  have  acknowledged  that 
man  as  a  compatriot  ?  Such  pati-iots  would  never  have  achieved 
our  glorious  revolution.  But  Temperance  Societies  are  volun- 
tary associations.  All  who  desire  the  good  of  their  country  and 
of  human  kind,  may  unite.  As  no  one  is  forced  to  join,  so  no 
one  is  obliged  to  remain  a  moment  longer  than  he  wishes.  Slionld 
lie  regret  the  act,  he  has  only  to  apply  to  the  Seci-etary  and  his 
name  is  stricken  off",  and  no  unkind  question  asked. 

And  now,  my  young  friends,  what  are  your  feelings  in  view 
of  this  subject  ?  We  have  already  adverted  to  the  impoi-tance  of 
College  Temperance  Societies.  And  oh,  how  imj)ortant  is  it, 
that  a  fountain,  which  sends  forth  its  annual  i-ills  into  every  sec- 
tion of  our  Commonwealth,  should  be  ])ure  and  wholesome,  that 
it  may  impart  a  moi-al  verdure  to  tlie  face  of  the  community.—. 
Shall  it  be  so  ?  Shall  it  send  forth  the  waters  of  purity,  and  tem- 
perance, and  life,  or  the  fiery  streams  of  death  ?  This  question, 
my  young  friends,  is  for  you  to  determine.  The  young  promise 
of  the  State,  the  nursery  of  her  future  Lawyers  and  Physicians, 
and  Divines  and  Statesmen,  you  are  destined  to  exert  a  mighty 
influence  for  Carolina's  weal  or  w^oe.  The  responsibility 
rests  uj)on  you,  and  whether  you  will  or  not,  you  cannot  shake 
it  off.  '  A  city  set  on  a  hill  cannot  be  hid.'  AVill  you  nobly  meet 
this  responsibility  and  acquit  yourselves  like  men  ?  Then  tVom 
this  consecrated  Hill  will  descend  a  genial  stream  of  influence, 
to  water  and  invigorate  and  purify  the  humble  nurseries  w))ose 
scions  are  transplanted  into  this,  and  successive  gcnci-ations  will 
rise  up  and  call  you  blessed. 

Suppose  your  two  literary  societies,  for  the  good  of  succeeding 
generations,  had  fifteen  years  ago  entered  into  a  mutual  engage- 
ment, not  to  admit  as  a  member  of  either,  any  student  of  the  Col- 
lege, who  should  refuse  to  sign  the  temperance  pledge  ;  the  ])ain- 
ful  reminiscences  in  the  fui-egoing  pait  of  this  addiess,  had  been 
si)ared.  Sujjpose  they  should  do  it  now;  such  melancholy  cases 
would  not  again  occur.  Oh,  had  1  Pitho's  fabled  power,  I  would 
persuade  you  to  eiect  high  in  the  centre  of  your  ai'ea,  your  noblo 
motto,  *  ViRUE,  LiBEKTY  AND  Science' ;  and  on  the  pedestal 
supporting  it,  in  deep  cajjitals,  lasting  as  the  granite  itself,  would 
I  engrave— TOTAL  ABSTINENCE  FROM  ALL  THAT 
INTOXICATES. 


